Only one Democrat ‘definitively’ beats Trump in a new poll — but she’s not interested
Former first lady Michelle Obama is the only Democrat to “definitively” defeat former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical general election match-up, according to a new poll.
In the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, 50% of respondents said they would vote for Michelle Obama if she were running against Trump, while 39% said they would vote for the former president.
The poll, conducted between July 1 and 2, sampled 1,070 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.
Six other Democrats were pitted against Trump in the poll — including President Joe Biden — and they all lost to Trump or tied him.
In a match-up between Biden and Trump, the presumptive nominees of their parties, both men received 40% support. In a match-up between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump, she lost to him by one point.
The four other Democrats featured in the poll were: California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. They all lost to Trump by three or more points.
The poll also found that Michelle Obama had the highest favorability rating of all eight Democrats.
A majority of respondents, 55%, said they were generally favorable to the former first lady. Meanwhile, 38% said the same for Biden and 42% said the same for Trump.
The other Democrats in the poll had lower favorability ratings, ranging from 40% for Harris to just 11% for Pritzker.
The poll comes one week after the first presidential debate — hosted by CNN in Atlanta — in which many said Biden performed poorly.
When asked if Biden should drop out of the race following the debate, a majority of respondents, 56%, said he should. Meanwhile, just under half of respondents, 46%, said Trump should drop out.
Michelle Obama’s inclusion in the poll comes after she has made multiple statements saying she will not run for president.
“As former first lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,” her spokesperson told Newsweek in July.
She also ruled out running in her memoir “Becoming,” published in 2018, writing, “I’ll say it here directly: I have no intention of running for office, ever,” according to Politico.
And, despite facing some calls to step aside, Biden’s campaign has reiterated that he intends to face off against Trump in November.
This story was originally published July 3, 2024 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Only one Democrat ‘definitively’ beats Trump in a new poll — but she’s not interested."